What are the tricks to get a 4003 neck straight??

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:31 pm

well, actually it took me about 2 hours and a lot of effort to get one one of the rods out, tape was holding it in. Also, i took them out from the body end using a vise grip, holding the bass with my legs, and pulling really hard. It took me about half an hou to take the last six inches out, and I applied naphta to the truss rod hole to soften the tape`s glue. It wasn`t easy but that`s how I got them out.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:50 pm

Mine are too thick to bend to get them out of the bass at the body end. Anyone know, did RIC ever use 3/16" diameter rods in 1991?

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 10:44 am

Detune the Bass,remove pickguard,remove TR cover and adjustment nuts. Using a small wooden dowel and hammer at the adjustment end of the rod,tap the rods out an inch at the body/neck pickup cavity. Put a small vise grip on the T-rod behind the nut, place a piece of cardboard on the body to keep from scratching instrument. Use a small hammer to tap on the vise grips. It takes about 45 seconds to pull each rod out using this method.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:12 pm

Dale, I tried but the rods are so thick and stiff they won't bend and I'm afraid of popping the fretboard. One rod moves very easily, the other I can tell has some curve to it but it also came out into the pickup rout with a little tapping, but they are very very stiff! I want to pull the one that has the curve in it.

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:21 pm

John, I used a piece of steel rod from the hardware store the same diameter of the truss rod (3/16"?). After removing the nut from the bottom of the t-rod, I tapped the t-rod back up through the head area with the hardware store rod and a hammer. It took some work to keep the store rod off the finish (holding it up from the body, yet bending into the t-rod cavity). But the two curved and taped rods of mine came out in about a minute.

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:23 pm

John, I forgot to add that, at the suggestion elsewhere, I clamped the fingerboard to the neck (probably over kill with four clamps and a cloth diaper) to prevent any popping of the fretboard from the neck during the removal of t-rods. And my t-rods were stuck in there pretty tight like yours appear to be.

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:31 pm

Heck, it was you who told me to clamp the fretboard.

I apologize for being redundant.

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:40 am

John, I had some rods removed the other day and measured them. They are bigger than 1/8" and smaller than 3/16", about 5/32"(.0154-.0156"). I'm pretty sure this dimension is the same for all ricks with the modern system.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:36 am

Thanks Dale, Mark, and Bruce. Last night I drew 5/32" on paper and could concede they are probably that size, going on memory. Next string change (either RIC flats or D'Addario XL) I will attempt again to pull that one rod. That's also the side with a slight rise around the 3rd to 5th frets. I'd put on an old set of Rotos just to hear it with something I knew - it came with 3-year-old Carvin Round heavies on it - made by LaBella and high tension, which I believe caused the taillift.

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:11 pm

We're wishing you luck on pulling that rod, John.

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:41 am

This is just my opinion but I really hate the masking tape that is used to wrap the trussrods. I know it is there to keep the rods from rattling but several times when I have removed my trussrods it has jammed up the removal process and I really had to "sweat it out" because of the abnormal amounts of force required to get them out. I know in a perfect world you should never have to remove the rods but that hasn't been my experience so far. So far no casualties and I'm really scratching my head over the pre-bent trussrods that we're all seeing. In two cases that I've had, I've straightened the rods and all my neck problems went away.

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:53 pm

I put my rods back without any tape. No rattling whatsoever.